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theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts) Wed Oct 30, 2013, 05:22 PM Oct 2013

The four sisters who took on Botswana's chiefs - and won

The four sisters who took on Botswana's chiefs - and won
By Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Kanye, Botswana
22 October 2013

In many countries across Africa, the right of the firstborn male, or closest male relative, to inherit family property - is still standard practice. Women are denied the right to inherit the family estate purely because of their gender, a custom that is upheld by some traditional leaders.

But four sisters in Botswana did something that no-one there thought was possible - they took on tradition and won.

Last month, a five-year legal struggle ended with a landmark victory to Edith Mmusi (80) and her three sisters Bakhani Moima (83), Jane Lekoko (77), and Mercy Ntsehkisang (68).

Inside her modest home in a village in Kanye, a small town south of the capital Gaborone, Ms Mmusi has a wry smile as she speaks of the lengthy case....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24623692

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The four sisters who took on Botswana's chiefs - and won (Original Post) theHandpuppet Oct 2013 OP

Part of the give it the male rationale TlalocW Oct 2013 #1

TlalocW

(15,624 posts)

1. Part of the give it the male rationale

Reply to theHandpuppet (Original post)

Wed Oct 30, 2013, 06:01 PM

Oct 2013

Is that women might marry into another family and use their inheritance on her new family, and I know that they're talking extended family here, but that seems almost guaranteed no matter if it's a son or daughter getting married since there doesn't seem to be any strong tradition about caring for the extended family in the first place since their nephew tried to get them evicted from their ancestral home in the first place.

TlalocW

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